Obsession: The Haunting Portrait Of Laura

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Confident, powerful, and wealthy would be the words that anyone would use to describe the haunting portrait of Laura. The artist created this cold image of Laura through the precise strokes of his brush. The dark eyes seemed to follow the other characters each moves, making it a centerpiece of most scenes. The portrait seems to have a much more powerful effect on others than Laura, herself. For instance, the portrait is what seems to be in between Waldo and McPherson when McPherson is staying in Laura’s apartment, and between McPherson and Laura when she returns from her weekend at her country house. It’s as if the image has the strength to cast a love spell on possible men of interest. As seen in Laura, Jacoby began to fall in love with her …show more content…

The portrait frames the movie and its plot, along with reinforcing many themes seen within it. Obsession in the main theme in this movie and some instances of it start with the painting. McPherson fell in love with the idea of Laura just from the portrait. The portrait was also something Waldo is proud of because he got Laura into art and he knows she wouldn’t be wealthy without his help. The portrait is backing up the selfish ways of the rich. The average person would not have a hand painted image of themselves; only the wealthy would think high enough of themselves to do and have the money for it. The portrait also displays a lack of genuineness and empathy, just as the upper class often did. Laura casts a negative view on the wealthy people in the world. The movie portrays that social group as selfish individuals who are insincere. Not only does the movie end with a shot of the misleading, theme-suggesting portrait, but Laura starts with it as well. That portrait acts as a frame for the movie with such a strong grip on the characters. This hold over the characters is what makes the piece of art so powerful. This painting stands almost as its own person rather than just a picture of Laura. The idea of two different people is seen throughout the film. For example, Waldo seems to try to put the blame on others and act better than being the murderer, but he is actually the murderer. Shelby also acts innocent and naïve throughout the course of the film until the truth comes out about him being present during the murder. Anne is also two-faced in that she acts happy for Shelby and Laura when she wishes that Shelby would marry her. Even though the movie starts and ends with the portrait of Laura, we see her in a different way at the end than we did at the beginning and during the

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